System and method for providing a distributed decisioning environment for processing of financial transactions

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing one or more client systems for communicating with a host system over a network. The client systems use a scanner to convert a paper form of a check, coupon, or other paper document to a digital representation and then the client systems send the digital representation over a network to the host system for storage. The host system archives the digital representation and determines the appropriate processing stream for a transaction related to the paper document (e.g. coupon, check), via a decisioning engine, based on a set of predefined stream selection rules. The host system then communicates the transaction to a back end transaction destination, according to the selected processing stream. Examples of the transaction destination can include ACH, Reproduce Paper, and Remittance. The host system can make use of a data buffer system for coordinating the storage of the digital representations in the host system as well as coordinating the respective settlement process, a distributed decisioning environment for assisting the host system in decisioning of the digital representations, and a hierarchy for coordinating the configuration of the host and client systems as well as coordinating the settlement process for the digital representations.

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/267,205, filed Nov. 7, 2005, in its entirety herein incorporated byreference, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/625,091, filed Nov. 5, 2004, in its entirety herein incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND

The current paper document processing environment is heavily dependentupon paper processing, which can be inefficient. What is needed is anelectronic paper document capture, storage, and process system toalleviate or otherwise mitigate the dependence upon paper form of itemssuch as personal and business checks, for example.

In current systems for electronic processing of checks, for example thatdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,137, because items will be uploadedfrom many sources, there is an opportunity for upload volume peaks andvalleys. And, since merchants are provided with a specific cut-off timeafter which, if they have not uploaded items by then, the merchants canpotentially lose one day's float, it is expected that a significantupload volume peak will occur during the hour (or even minutes) prior tothe cut-off time. This volume problem needs to be addressed given thatthis spiky arrival pattern, and given the fact that the system willinherently have an upper limit on the intake (or capture) throughput itcan sustain. In addition, different uploads will belong to differentbanks (e.g. customers of the system) but the items associated with eachof the different banks will be co-mingled during the upload stages. Itis desirable to prepare and forward for settlement a settlement file(associated with the uploaded items) as soon as possible after thespecified cut-off time, and different banks will have different cut-offtimes.

A further problem in current systems is inherent in centralisedprocessing of the items, where all decisioning of the items to result inselected settlement paths is carried out at a host system, thusproviding for potential bottlenecks in item processing during peakvolume periods, for example.

A further problem is in efficient management of the system when itincludes a plurality of client systems (for uploading the items) and oneof more respective host systems (for processing the items to assign arespective settlement path) in the environment of multiple customers ofthe system, all with their own settlement and item processing needs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent in the followingdetailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawingsby way of example only, wherein:

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram of an electronic cheque storage andprocessing network system;

FIG. 1 a(i) is a portion of FIG. 1 a;

FIG. 1 a(ii) is a further portion of FIG. 1 a;

FIG. 1 a(iii) is a further portion of FIG. 1 a.

FIG. 1 b is a block diagram of an example configuration of a clientsystem of FIG. 1,

FIG. 1 c is a block diagram of an example configuration of a host systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 1 d shows an example schema for the image/data database of FIG. 1c;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data buffer system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a an example timeline of the image/data uploads of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a further embodiment of the table file of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 show further detail of the data buffer system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 provides an example operation of the data buffer system of FIG.5;

FIG. 7 provides an example operation of the settlement process of FIGS.2, 3 and 4;

FIG. 8 shows further details of the capture module of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 provides an example embodiment of the capture module of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example schema of the database of FIG.5 applicable to the capture module of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 gives block diagram of an example decisioning process and asettlement process of the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 12 a,b,c provide further embodiments of the processes of FIG. 11;

FIG. 12 d shows a further embodiment of the decisioning process of FIG.11 including an example of the distributed decisioning environment ofFIG. 13;

FIGS. 12 e,f,g show further embodiments of the distributed decisioningenvironment of FIG. 13;

FIG. 13 is an example schematic showing further details of thedistributed decisioning environment represented in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an administration configuration tool ofFIG. 13;

FIG. 15 provides an example operation of the administrationconfiguration tool of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 shows a hierarchy of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 a further embodiment of the hierarchy of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a schematic of a dissemination process of configuration datausing a further embodiment of the hierarchy of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 shows a further embodiment of the settlement process of FIG. 7using the hierarchy of FIG. 18; and

FIG. 20 is an example operation of a further embodiment of thesettlement process shown in FIG. 19.

DESCRIPTION Network System

The following description includes at least one embodiment of a methodfor digital decision processing of captured transaction data in adistributed decisioning environment, the captured transaction data basedon an original paper transaction and including at least a digital imageof the original paper transaction, the method comprising the steps of:receiving the captured transaction data, the received capturedtransaction data configured to reflect a first decision result of afirst decisioning process using a primary decisioning filter having atleast one first filter type; analyzing the received captured transactiondata to produce a result indicating if further decision processing isneeded to determine a settlement path suitable for the received capturedtransaction data; implementing at least one further processing stepbased on the result, the further processing step selected from, a)determining the settlement path for the received captured transactiondata if no further decision processing is needed by a second decisioningprocess, and b) applying the second decisioning process to the receivedcaptured transaction data by a secondary decisioning filter having atleast one second filter type; and assigning the settlement path to thereceived captured transaction data for storage in a database.

The following description includes at least one embodiment of a systemfor digital decision processing of captured transaction data in adistributed decisioning environment, the captured transaction data basedon an original paper transaction and including at least a digital imageof the original paper transaction, the system comprising: a capturemodule for receiving the captured transaction data, the receivedcaptured transaction data configured to reflect a first decision resultof a first decisioning process using a primary decisioning filter havingat least one first filter type; a decisioning engine for analyzing thereceived captured transaction data to produce a result indicating iffurther decision processing is needed to determine a settlement pathsuitable for the received captured transaction data and for implementingat least one further processing step based on the result, the furtherprocessing step selected from, a) determining the settlement path forthe received captured transaction data if no further decision processingis needed by a second decisioning process, and b) applying the seconddecisioning process to the received captured transaction data by asecondary decisioning filter having at least one second filter type; anda settlement path module for assigning the settlement path to thereceived captured transaction data for storage in a database.

The following description includes at least one embodiment of anadministration method for dynamically configuring a host system and aplurality of client systems coupled to the host system, the host andclient systems for providing a distributed decisioning environment forprocessing captured paper transaction data based on an original papertransaction and including at least a digital image of the original papertransaction, the client system participating in the generation of thecaptured paper transaction data, the method comprising the steps of:accessing a set of configuration parameters including a plurality ofdecision filter types for use in configuring a plurality of decisioningengines of the distributed decisioning environment; selecting from theset of configuration parameters a primary decisioning filter having atleast one of the plurality of the decision filter types, the primarydecisioning filter configured for configuring at least one primarydecisioning engine of the client systems, the primary decisioning engineone of the plurality of decisioning engines; and providing the primarydecisioning filter to at least one of the client systems for use inconfiguring the at least one primary decisioning engine.

The following description includes at least one embodiment of anadministration system for dynamically configuring a host system and aplurality of client systems coupled to the host system, the host andclient systems for providing a distributed decisioning environment forprocessing captured paper transaction data based on an original papertransaction and including at least a digital image of the original papertransaction, the client system participating in the generation of thecaptured paper transaction data, the system comprising: storage foraccessing a set of configuration parameters including a plurality ofdecision filter types for use in configuring a plurality of decisioningengines of the distributed decisioning environment; a selection modulefor selecting from the set of configuration parameters a primarydecisioning filter having at least one of the plurality of the decisionfilter types, the primary decisioning filter configured for configuringat least one primary decisioning engine of the client systems, theprimary decisioning engine one of the plurality of decisioning engines;and an implementation module for providing the primary decisioningfilter to at least one of the client systems for use in configuring theat least one primary decisioning engine.

Referring to FIG. 1 a, network system 10 for providing a plurality ofdistributed client systems 12 for communicating with a host system 14over a network 11 (e.g. Internet or other extranet/intranet), such asbut not limited to using an ASP model implementation. It is recognisedthat the network 11 can generally refer to one network or series ofnetworks connecting the various network entities of the network system10 to each other for communication purposes and image/data 20 andtransaction 26 transfer. The network system 10 provides for electronicpayment processing for electronic check conversion systems includingweb-based image and transaction management services for banks, billers,retailers, payment processors and/or government agencies, hereaftergenerically referred to as members 29. The client system 12 can use ascanner 16 to convert a paper form of a check, coupon, or other paperdocument 18 to a digital representation image and associated data,hereafter referred to as image/data 20 files/packages/packets (orimage/data 20 for short), and then the client system 12 sends/uploadsthe digital image/data 20 over the network 11 to the host system 14 forregistration/storage in a database 22. It is also recognised that theimage/data 20 source (e.g. client system 12) can be from a telephoneorder (TEL), such that the bank account and monetary amount is enteredmanually over the phone between the account holder and the telephoneoperator submitting the financial transaction. In this case of manualentry of the financial information, including the “check” information,the network system 10 is configured for processing this financialinformation by the host system 14, including reproduce paper as furtherdescribed below. In this sense, the telephone order will also beconsidered to have an “image” component that is reproducible as a paperdraft upon request from the host system 14 when stored in the database22.

The format of the image/data 20 transmission protocols/formats andacknowledgement formats (e.g. XML or other structured definitionlanguage defined protocols/formats), used in the network system 10, isdefined for the network communication between the host system 14 andclient system 12. It is recognised that the client system 12 canrepresent image/data 20 captured by a user of the client system 12 (e.g.mainly through the use of the scanner 16) or the client system 12 can berepresented by a customer server 30, which processes a large volume oftransactions gathered electronically (mainly) from a plurality ofuser-operated client systems 12. For example, the customer server 30 canbe a central deposit depot for all electronically captured image/data 20submitted from a number of user-operated client systems 12 (e.g. used byfield agents). For simplicity purposes only, user-operated clientsystems 12 and customer servers 30 are hereafter referred to as clientsystems 12.

It is recognised that the image/data 20 can include data such as but notlimited to: bank account (check writer's); RTN (bank number); check 18serial number; amount; date of capture; capture site info (merchant ID);optional fields; transaction type (ARC vs. POP); image reference/itemnumber; and batch ID.

The host system 14 archives the image/data 20 and determines theappropriate processing stream 28 for a transaction file 26 related tothe paper document (e.g. coupon, check) represented by the image/data20, via a decisioning engine 24, based on a set of predefined streamselection rules. The engine 24 decides the types of transactions 26 toaccept based on decisioning criteria, as well as decides whichsettlement 110 path (i.e. transaction stream 28) to select, see FIG. 4.The host system 14 then communicates the transaction 26 to a back endtransaction processing destination, e.g. members 29, according to theselected processing stream 28. Examples of the transaction stream 28 caninclude ACH, Reproduce Paper, Stop, and Remittance. It is recognisedthat a portion of the functionality of the decisioning engine 24 can behanded over (configured) to the client system 12 using a localdecisioning engine 502 (see FIG. 6, so as to provide for pre-decisioningof the image/data 20 before receipt by the host system 14. In thisaspect, the decisioning function can be shared or otherwise coordinatedbetween the host 14 and client 12 systems in order to provide adistributed decisioning environment 501 (see FIG. 13). It is recognisedthat the network system 10 can have a plurality of the client systems 12connected to the host system 14 and associated decision engine(s) 24.

It is also recognised that the network system 10 can be represented asan image management and transaction system (ITMS), web-based, thatfacilitates the electronic deposit and settlement of payments receivedby the paper checks 18. The network system 10 is designed to accommodateone or many points of distributed payment collection, i.e. one to manyclient systems 12. The network system 10 is comprised of the two maincomponents, Client 12 and Host 14 systems. The Client 12 and Host 14 canbe secure integrated networked components that work together tofacilitate various methods of payment processing. The network system 10provides support for Electronic Check Conversion (ECC) forpoint-of-purchase (POP) and accounts receivable (ARC) payment types aswell as Check 21 initiatives. ARC is the process of converting aconsumer check payment (e.g. image/data 20) for eligibility into anAutomated Clearing House (ACH) debit transaction 26 in a lock boxpayment environment. ARC allows billers (e.g. client system 12) to imagethe paper document 18 as a source document and convert the paper to anelectronic ACH debit (including the image/data 20) for processing by thehost system 14. POP is a face-to-face transaction whereby the paperdocument 18 is converted to an ACH eligible debit transaction 26 at thepoint-of-purchase and the cancelled paper document 18 is immediatelyreturned to the customer.

The Client system 12 can be configured as a Windows-based applicationthat can reside on any workstation running Windows, with bothbrowser-based and terminal applications available. The Client system 12provides the interface to a peripheral check reader (e.g. scanner 16)that captures the image of the check (e.g. paper document 18) as well asaccount and routing information from the MICR (Magnetic Ink CharacterRecognition) line of the paper document 18, as identified by the scanner16. The Client system 12 allows additional payee or biller informationto be added to transaction data for assembly as the image/data 20. TheClient system 12 also provides proofing and batch balancing features.The Host system 14 can be a secure enterprise scale server systemoperated by RDM. The Host system 14 has for example three primaryfunctions: transaction 26 consolidation and routing, image/data 20archiving, and administrative reporting of the decisioning 812 andsettlement 110 processes (see FIG. 11) as well as the status of theregistered/stored image/data 20 in the database 22. The transactionconsolidation function of Host system 14 prepares and formats ACHtransaction 26 files for delivery to any 3rd party ACH processor (e.g.member 29) for electronic financial settlement. The decisioning used bythe decisioning process 812 can include such as but not limited tofiscal rules (e.g. less than a specified $ amount), OPTOUT—paperdocument 18 not okayed by paper document 18 issuer to be part ofelectronic processing, blocks—the paper document 18 type and/or issuernot accepted by a financial institution (e.g. member); stops—the paperdocument 18 type and/or issuer not accepted by payee; and ACHworthy/eligible.

It is recognised that the uploads/downloads of the image/data 20 can bedone through example mediums such as ACH (further divided intoPOP—person present and ARC—person not present), TEL (ACH debits over thetelephone), WEB (e.g. Pay Pal™), RCK (second time cheque presentment),and others. The captured images and their associated MICR/OCR data (e.g.image/data 20) are sent to a Payment Archive Service in real-time mode,as the transaction 26 is completed, or batch transmitted at the end ofthe day or shift. The image/data 20 is stored in Payment Archive, i.e.storage 22, for later retrieval by payment processors, transactionacquirers, merchants or any other authorized user. For example,images/data 20 can be retrieved 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, usingweb-based interfaces coupled to the host 14 or emailed directly to theauthorized user in a report format. It is recognised that the hostsystem 14 provides an image management solution that includes securedstorage of images, and associated data, that have been captured by thescanning devices 16, such as RDM's EC6000i series. Retrieval of theimage/data 20 from the host system 14, once stored, can include allassociated data such as account number, check number, routing number,date and amount, that can be stored with the image, and can be used assearch criteria to retrieve images of the image/data 20 from the storage22. The host system 14 can be coupled to a user interface forstraightforward image searches (e.g. from an administration orclient/member usable tool 32), and has a hierarchal design to facilitatefor varying levels of image access. Further, in an ECC (electroniccheque conversion) environment, the ACH processors of the members 29 canaccess the database storage 22 to request any check image/data 20 whichare required in the processing of a returned check item, e.g. a resultof NSF or Administrative returns. In a Bill Payment environment, thebill payment processor of the members 29 accesses images/data 20 fromthe database 22 to speed dispute resolutions.

The client system 12 can be a personal computer or other computingdevice for running software/hardware configured to; convert the paperdocument 18 into the digital image/data 20, upload the image/data 20 tothe host system 14 via the network 11, receive acknowledgements 303 (seeFIG. 5) as to the status of the transaction 26 related to the image/data20 as well as the storage status of the transmitted image/data 20, andreceive new/updates (e.g. configuration packages 209—see FIG. 1 b) forscanner 16 software and computer software from the host system 14 (e.g.entry forms, GUI modifications, decisioning rules, etc. . . . ). Thehost system 14 could also be in communication with the third partycustomer server 30 for coordinating the upload of larger volumes ofdigital image/data 20 to the host system 14. It is recognised that thedigital image typically would be accompanied in the upload bytransaction data (e.g. check amount, payor, payee, etc. . . . )associated with the digital image, (e.g. the combined image/data 20package). This transaction data could also be stored in the storage 22and/or communicated to the destination (e.g. member 29) of theassociated transaction 26 once the settlement process 110 has beencompleted. The network system 10 also has the web administration and webresearch tools 32 for interacting or otherwise configuring and receivinginformation about the transactions 26 and/or digital image/data 20stored in the database 20, as well as a customer server 33 for receivingimage retrieval via a search web service 31. The network system 10 canalso have customer servers 34 for receiving image and data batchresponses from the host system 14 in view of manual and/or automatedimage/data 20 requests.

For example, it is recognised that the host system 14 can be configuredas a web service(s) and/or other services such as but not limited to SQLDatabases, IDL-based CORBA and RMI/IIOP systems, Legacy Databases, J2EE,SAP RFCs, and COM/DCOM components. The web service supplied by the hostservice can be defined as a software service, which can implement anetwork communication interface such as expressed using Web ServicesDescription Language (WSDL) registered in Universal DiscoveryDescription and Integration (UDDI) in a web services registry, and cancommunicate through messages with the client system 12 (and a DBS 36—seeFIG. 5—if separate from the host system 14) by being exposed over thenetwork 11 through an appropriate protocol such as the Simple ObjectAccess Protocol (SOAP). In some implementations, SOAP is a specificationthat defines the XML format for the network messaging, including awell-formed XML fragment enclosed in SOAP elements. SOAP also supportsdocument style applications where the SOAP message is a wrapper aroundan XML document. A further optional part of SOAP defines the HTTPbinding (i.e. header), whereas some SOAP implementations support MSMQ,MQ Series, SMTP, or TCP/IP transport protocols. Alternatively, the hostsystem 14 may use other known communication protocols, message formats,and the interface may be expressed in other web services languages thandescribed above.

The host system 14 can implement a variety of functions, including asexample decisioning, MICR swap, image QA report generation, andbilling/invoice generation. In general, the host system 14 isresponsible for coordinating the flow through of transactions 26 throughthe network system 10, including provisions for checks and balances(e.g. validation, acknowledgements, status, etc. . . . ) for archivingof the image/data 20 as well as image/data 20 receipt (i.e. acknowledgedimage/data 20 capture). This coordination can include verification,adherence to processing deadlines (stream 28 selection of a plurality oftransactions 26 related to a plurality of image/data 20 received by aspecified time deadline), security of the image/data 20 acquisition,storage, and transmission, and accommodation of image/data 20 volumesand associated transaction stream 28 selection and any additionaltransaction pre-processing as desired by the network system 10. Theclient systems 12 are coupled to the host system 14 via a data buffersystem 36 and associated capture module 38, as further described below.

Example Configuration 201 of Client System 12

Referring to FIG. 1 b, the client systems 12 can be devices and/orterminals including such as but not limited to wireless devices,servers, and work stations such as a PC. The client systems 12 include anetwork interface 200 (e.g. transceiver/modem) coupled via connection218 to an infrastructure 204. The network interface 200 is connectableduring operation of the client systems 12 to the network 11 by asuitable channel, e.g. wireless RF or IR links or Ethernet connection,which enables the client systems 12 to communicate with each other (ifenabled) and with external systems (such as the host system 12, the DBS36 and/or the customer server 30) via the network 11. The network 11supports the transmission of image/data 20 and associated messages (e.g.status and ACK messages as well as transmission of the transactions 26and data access requests to the database 22) between client systems 12and external systems, which are connected to the network 11.

Referring again to FIG. 1 b, the client systems 12 also have a userinterface 202, coupled to the infrastructure 204 by connection 222, tointeract with a user (not shown). The user interface 202 includes one ormore user input devices such as but not limited to a QWERTY keyboard, akeypad, a trackwheel, a stylus, the scanner 16, and a user output devicesuch as an LCD screen display. If the screen is touch sensitive, thenthe display can also be used as the user input device as controlled bythe infrastructure 204. The user interface 202 is employed by the userof the device 100 to coordinate the gathering of image/data 20,configuration/initialization of the infrastructure 204, andcommunication over the network 11 with the external systems.

Referring again to FIG. 1 b, operation of the client systems 12 isenabled by the infrastructure 204. The device infrastructure 204includes a computer processor 208 and associated memory module 210. Thecomputer processor 208 manipulates the operation client components suchas the network interface 200, the user interface 202, and a localdecision engine 502 by executing related instructions, which areprovided by an operating system and a configuration module 203 withrelated configuration data 207 (configured with assistance by thereceived configuration packages 209) located for example in the memorymodule 210. Further, it is recognized that the infrastructure 204 caninclude a computer readable storage medium 212 coupled to the processor208 for providing instructions to the processor and/or to load/updatethe configuration module 203 with related configuration data 207 in thememory module 210. The computer readable medium 212 can include hardwareand/or software such as, by way of example only, magnetic disks,magnetic tape, optically readable medium such as CD/DVD ROMS, and memorycards. In each case, the computer readable medium 212 may take the formof a small disk, floppy diskette, cassette, hard disk drive, solid statememory card, or RAM provided in the memory module 210. It should benoted that the above listed example computer readable mediums 212 can beused either alone or in combination.

Example Configuration 250 of Host System 12

Referring to FIG. 1 c, the example host system 14 has a web serviceslayer 252 for providing communication with the client systems 12, theDBS 36, and the administration tools 32, and the customer servers 33,34(see FIG. 1 a). The representative configuration 250 also has a workflowlayer 254 for coordinating access to a database layer 256 using featuressuch as but not limited to: administration module 260 includingconfiguration by a configuration module 257 of the decision engine 24(configured by configuration data 262) as well as the capture module 38if applicable; searching; decisioning via the decisioning engine 24;activity logging; distribution; file upload; and batch acknowledgement.It is recognised that the functionality provided by the workflow layer254 can be implemented as a series of respective software/hardwaremodules, as desired. The database layer 256 can also have the hierarchy702 for coordinating operation of the various layers 252,254,256,258, asfurther described below. The configuration 250 also has a request layer258 for coordinating communication with the members 29 and the DBS 36(see FIG. 5). The request layer 258 can include features such as but notlimited to: job scheduling; distribution; request processing; storage ofimages/data 20; and ACH processing implemented by the settlement module25. It is recognised that the functionality provided by the layer 258can be implemented as a series of respective software/hardware modules,as desired. Referring to FIG. 1 d, an example schema 265 is shown forthe database 22.

Further, it is recognized that the host system 14 can have anarchitecture (not shown) similar to the client system 12, namelyincluding such as but not limited to the network interface 200, theinfrastructure 204, the user interface 202, the computer processor 208,the memory module 210, and the computer readable medium 212.

Capture Module 38

The Capture module 38 (or service) is responsible for the storage of allimage/data 20 received for the Host system 14 into the StorageSub-System (i.e. database 22). These image/data 20 can originate fromvarious external client system 12 sources, including such as but notlimited to RDM EC5000x scanners deployed in the field connected to POSTerminals and PC-based Client applications. Various image/data 20 fileand network communication formats are in use in the field and thecapture module 38 (in conjunction with the DBS 36) can support them allas configured. Referring to FIG. 8, the Capture module/service 38 andit's context with the Host system 14 is illustrated. Accordingly, it isrecognised that the capture module 38 can be part of the host system 14or can be supplied by a third party (not shown) coupled to the hostsystem 14 via the network 11. It is also recognised that the image/data20 can include as well all captured transactional data for itemsdecisioned at the client system 12 as STOP items, as desired.

Referring again to FIG. 8, incoming image/data 20 access by the Capturemodule 38 can be done using an FTP protocol to access the image/data 20that have been deposited on the File Receipt Server modules 312 of theDBS 36. This can provide for configuration of the Capture module 38 togather image/data 20 from any location on the network 11. The use of FTPcould be exchanged for some other more secure transfer protocol, e.g.FTPS. As an example only, the Capture module 38 can be implemented as astandard Windows NT Service, can respond to Startup and Shutdownrequests from an operator with the appropriate privileges (e.g. from anadministration tool 37—see FIG. 1 a). Further, the capture module 38 canrun without requiring a user to be logged in to the hosting workstation,can be configured to startup automatically when the operating system ofthe hosting workstation boots up, the operating system of the hostingworkstation can automatically shut the capture module 38 down when thehosting workstation is rebooted for whatever reason, and the capturemodule 38 can be monitored to ensure it is still executing to allow foroperations (e.g. of the admin tool 37) to monitor the activity of thecapture module 38 (e.g. facilitates tracking of the throughput of thecapture module 38). Further, it is recognised that the capture module 38can be implemented as a plurality of capture modules 38 communicatingwith one or more respective DBSs 36 (not shown), such that the pluralityof capture modules 38 are hosted off the host system 14—hosted by thehost system 14—or a combination thereof.

It is also recognised that the Capture module 38 can be implemented insuch a way that it is easily extensible to support new file formats ofthe image/data 20 transferred throughout the network system 10, whichcan be implemented through application updates to the capture module 38and other components of the host 14 and client 12 systems via thehierarchy 702 (see FIG. 1 d), further described below. For example, theapproach taken can be to expose a top-level class that determines thecontent of a current file used to configure the capture module 38, assupported by the host system 14, including image/data 20 format updates.

Further, the Capture module 38 can make use of components (e.g. part ofthe executable framework of the capture module 38) running in a COM+environment, for example. COM+ provides a run-time environment for COMcomponents that extends the functionality available to those componentsand also provides various features that improve the scalability of thesoftware systems using these components. The Capture module 38 canleverage the following COM+ capabilities to improve the scalability ofthe capture service, such as but not limited to: Object Pooling—ObjectPooling provides an mechanism whereby COM components can be pooled forfuture use for handling other requests; Just-in-timeActivation—Just-In-Time Activation can help reduce the memory needs ofthe components by waiting to the last possible moment to activate theobject in memory to handle a request. This can improve the scalabilityof the network system 10; and Constructor Strings—This is simply anefficient mechanism to pass configuration information into a componentat run-time.

Referring to FIG. 9, a system architecture 800 illustrates an examplesub-system breakdown for the Capture module 38 as a whole. The Capturemodule 38 is responsible for coordinating the indexing and storage ofall incoming image/data 20 into the Storage System supplied by thedatabase 22. A PACaptureSvc component 802 can be an NT Service thatresponds to typical Service Control commands as such as StartUp andShutDown. Upon startup, the PACaptureSvc component 802 initializes allrequired FTPSiteMonitor 803 components that provide FTP Site monitoringservices for detecting image/data 20 available on FTP sites (e.g. of theDBS 36). The FTPSiteMonitor components 805 can notify the PACaptureSvccomponent 802 of the availability of these image/data 20 (e.g.image/data 20 available in the queue 300). The Capture module 38 uses aRDMTIFF 804 and a RDMMIME 806 helper component to extract/parse indexinginformation (e.g. representative information 306) from TIFFs andMIME-encoded files (e.g. image/data 20). A Storage component 808 isresponsible for storing the indexing information (e.g. representativeinformation 306) and image/data 20 into the database 22 as well as toupdate, where applicable, any tables external to the database 22, asfurther described below.

Image/data 20 file format (and associated features) supported by theCapture module 38 for the indexing and storage can be such as but notlimited to: Standard RDM TIFF (EC5000s and EC6000s); MIME-encoded TIFF(Client 12); MIME-encoded TIFF with Batch Summary (Client system 12);and TIFF with XML (Mag Tek and VeriFone Scanners). further, referring toFIG. 10, an example portion 810 of a database 22 schema relevant to thecapture module 38 is shown, for a plurality of the tables 326 (see FIG.5).

Data Buffer System (DBS) 36

Referring to FIG. 5, the DBS 36 is considered short-term or temporarystorage of the images/data 20 (e.g. captured paper transactional databased on an original paper transaction) captured by the client systems12 to help accommodate the orderly transmission of the plurality ofimages/data 20 (i.e. volume) to the long-term storage of the database 22coupled to the host 14. The temporary storage can be defined as astorage state of the images/data 20 where reproduction of theimages/data 20 is not always possible in the event of loss or otherwisefailure of the temporary storage (e.g. due to storage device failure orerror(s) in storing of the images/data in the temporary storage).Long-term storage, as considered by the database 22 of the host system14, can be defined as an image/data 20 files that have been packagedtogether for backup, to transport to some other location, and forgenerally being able to reproduce the image/data 20 when requested by anentity external to the host system 14. The archived image/data 20 caninclude a simple list of files or files organized under a directory orcatalogue structure. For example, in Unix-based operating systems, thetar (tape archive) utility can be used to create an archive or extractfiles from one. On mainframe operating systems such as IBM's MVS andOS/390, procedures for archiving or backing up files are often automatedas a daily operation. Further, short-term storage provided by the DBS 36can be defined as the initial area in which image/data 20 is stored forquick access by the DBS 3 and eventually the capture module 38, ascompared to long-term or archive storage provided by the database 22using more permanent storage devices such as but not limited to harddisk, diskette, CD, and DVD to collectively describe secondary orauxiliary archived storage. Further, long-term storage can be defined asstorage for image/data 20 that is in active use in contrast to storagethat is used for backup purposes (e.g. stored image/data 20 applicableto reproduction requests and settlement processes 110).

The DBS 36 and/or eventual database 22 records an exact time of areceipt of the image/data 20 by the DBS 36 through a receipt indicator302, such that the time of receipt indicator 302 is used during thesettlement 110 process further described below. The DBS 36 and theassociated capture module 38 provide, as one aspect, a hardware/softwaresolution for delaying the entry of images/data 20 into the database 22,in order to provide a shock absorber mechanism to account for highvolumes of image/data 20 experienced by the database 22. The DBS 36 canemploy a queue mechanism 300 (e.g. FIFO and/or FIAO) and delayedacknowledgement messages 302 of the image/data 20 received by the DBS 36as well as transmission/capture status of the image/data 20 to thedatabase 22 of the host system 14.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the DBS 36 has a file transfer module 312that accepts image/data 20 packets/files transferred over the network 11from the distributed client systems 12. The transfer module 312 can berepresented as a web tier of the network system 10 for providing acentral web interface/portal (e.g. web service) for a selected group (orall) of the client systems 12. Further, the transfer module 312identifies any representative information 306 (e.g. header informationof the image/data 20 file/package) included with the image/data forstoring in a file table 40. The representative information 306 caninclude such as but not limited to: image/data type; file/package ID;file/package name; a priority indicator 302 (e.g. a receipt timeindicator), hereafter referred to a receipt time indicator by exampleonly); a processing status indicator 304 for indicating a real timestatus for the image/data 20, including received by the DBS 36 but notyet transferred to the host system 14, received by the host system 14but not yet processed, received by the host system 14 and processed, ora combination thereof; a member ID of the members 29 associated with theimage/data 20; a client ID for the client system 12 associated with theimage/data 20 (e.g. POS); processed time indicating the amount of timetaken by the host system 14 to update the status indicator 304 fromreceived to processed; and an attempts indicator for representing thenumber of attempts were taken to properly receive the image/data 20 bythe DBS 36, to properly receive the image/data 20 transferred to thehost system 14, to properly process the image/data 20 by the decisioningengine 24 of the host system 12, or a combination thereof.

It is recognised that the file table 40 can be generically referred toas a physical/logical representation of a data structure for providing aspecialized format for organizing and storing the representativeinformation 306. General data structure types can include types such asbut not limited to an array, a file, a record, a table, a tree, and soon. In general, any data structure is designed to organize data(representative information 306 and/or image/data 20) to suit a specificpurpose so that the data can be accessed and worked with in appropriateways. In the context of the present network system 10, the datastructure may be selected or otherwise designed to store data for thepurpose of working on the data with various algorithms executed bycomponents of the host system 14, and the DBS 36 (if separate from thehost system 14). It is recognised that the terminology of a table isinterchangeable with that of a data structure with reference to thecomponents of the network system 10. It is recognised that therepresentative information 306 can be stored in the file table 40,tables 326 of the host system 14, or a combination thereof, by exampleonly.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the DBS 36 also has a shared component module39 (also referred to as an acknowledgement module when acting in thatcapacity) for receiving the representative information 306 and storingit in the file table 40. Further, it is recognised that the sharedcomponent module 39 can provide updates to the representativeinformation 306 of the file table 40, as well as add any additionalrepresentative information 306 not included in the received image/data20 but desired by the host system 14 or other entities coupled to thehost system 14 as part of the network system 10 (see FIG. 1 a). Further,the shared component module 39 can update a member table 316 included aspart of the member hierarchy 318 (e.g. part of the hierarchy 702 (seeFIG. 1 d). Accordingly, during the settlement 110 process, the module 25can consult the member table 316 (e.g. a data structure) to determine ifany image/data 20 have been received by the DBS 36 and are beingprocessed or are otherwise in the process of being processed by the DBS36 and/or host system 14. For example, it is recognised that thesettlement module 25 (or a plurality of respective settlement modules25) could be responsible for coordinating a particular settlement 110process for a particular member 29, such that different members 29typically have different settlement 110 procedures including cut-offtimes for receipt of image/data 20 from the client systems 12 forinclusion in the upcoming settlement 110 process (e.g. the cut-off timefor receipt could be 4 PM for inclusion in the settlement 110 processrecognising the respective transactions 26 for that day). It is alsorecognised that the tables 40 and 316 could be combined, as desired, andthe member hierarchy 318 is hosted or otherwise available to the hostsystem 14 and the settlement module 25 as appropriate for the desiredfunctioning of the network system 10. Further, it is recognised that theshared component module 39 can generate and store a deposit ID in adeposit table 320 (of the host system 14) associated with the image/data20 file/package identified by the file ID.

The representative information 306 can also be referred to asregistration information such that the information 306 can representindexing data for the captured image/data 20 such that the indexing datais stored in the tables 326 to facilitate subsequent retrieval of thestored image/data 20 when requested from the host system 14. theindexing data (i.e. part of the representative information 306) caninclude information such as but not limited to: the time the image/data20 arrived at the DBS 36 and/or the database 22; the time the image/data20 was registered in the database 22; the filename of the image/data 20or other identification; and the status of the image/data 20 (e.g.decisioning status, storage status, settlement status, etc. . . . ). Ingeneral, the database 22 can be viewed as providing an archival typestorage system for the images/data 20 (as well as their associatedtransaction 26 data) that are received from a remote data source (forexample), in order that the stored/archived images/data 20 (as well astheir associated transaction 26 data) are robustly available for laterprocessing, viewing, and/or retrieval.

The exception module 25 handles situations in which certain image/data20 are deemed not storable (i.e. eligible for registration with thedatabase 22). These situations can include exception criteria such asbut not limited to: duplicate image/data 20 such that the image/data 20being captured is a duplicate of image/data already in the database 22;bad batch file meaning that the format of the image/data 20 submissionis not supported by the database 22 (e.g. supported file formats caninclude deposit, batch, Tiff, etc. . . . ); general insertion exceptionsuch that a bad attempt is identified for insertion of the completecontents of the image/data 20 (e.g. as a file, batch, individual item,etc. . . . ) into the database 22 and may be eligible for an insertionretry; invalid member ID such that the member 29 associated with theimage/data 20 is part of the member hierarchy 318 (e.g. this can bechecked by the DBS 36 and/or the host system 14—such as by the capturemodule 38); invalid scanner exception such that the image/data 20 mayoriginate from a non-supported scanner 16 (see FIG. 1 a) manufacturer;minimum information exception where the image file of the image/data 20and/or the data portion of the image/data 20 are deemed to not containthe minimum amount of transactional information (e.g. IRN and ownercode) to allow the transaction 26 to proceed. It is recognised that atleast part of the exception criteria can be used by the capture module38 and/or the decisioning engine 24. Further, it is recognised that thecapture module 38 and/or the upload module 314 (or other appropriatecomponent of the DBS 36) can delete the stored copy of the image/data 20once the image/data 20 has been successfully stored/registered in thedatabase 22. It is recognised that the use of terminology “file”(exchangeable with the term image/data 20 where applicable) does notnecessarily imply “image”, as the receipt of the files by the DBS 36 maynot concern the actual contents and/or format of the received file, andas such the received file by the DBS 36 may contain multiple images andassociated data.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the DBS 36 has a file upload/download module314 coupled to the file transfer module 312 for coordinating entry ofthe image/data 20 in the queue 300. The module 314 can organise orotherwise format/pre-process the communication package containing theimage/data such that the image/data 20 is consumable by the capturemodule 38 in a predefined/expected format. For example, the module 314can assemble (e.g. combine or dissect) the received image/data 20 in thequeue 300 according to predefined criteria such as but not limited to:batch size representing the desired batch by the capture module whenpolling (synchronous image/data 20 download) the DBS 36, where the batchsize can be anywhere from one item record to a set plurality of itemrecords 58 (e.g. a batch record 56 or file record 54)—see FIG. 4;image/data 20 combined for selected client system(s) 12; image/data 20combined for selected member(s) 29; image/data 20 reorganised accordingto type, receipt time, or other desired criteria listed or not listedabove; or a combination thereof. Further, the module 314 can apply somedecisioning criteria to the received image/data 20 according to any ofthe decisioning criteria as part of the configuration data 262 (see FIG.1 d).

The queue 300 can include an overflow storage 322 (e.g. a rapid accessdisk) for accommodating throughput considerations when an unexpectedvolume of the image/data 20 is received by the DBS 36. Once the queue300 is sufficiently emptied by transfer of the currently queuedimage/data 20 to the capture module 38, the contents of the overflowstorage 322 can be transferred into the queue 300 for transmission (e.g.such as but not limited to every 60 seconds, or other appropriate timeinterval if not configured for real time transfer, or using othertransfer criteria—for example when the queue 300 is approaching fullstorage capacity, or a combination of transmission criteria) to thecapture module 38. Further, in the case where the module 314 cannothandle the influx of image/data 20 where pre-processing is implemented,any overflow image/data 20 can be stored by the module 314 in thestorage 322 prior to pre-processing and entry into the queue 300. As anexample, the module 314 can coordinate the input (and output) ofimage/data 20 with respect to the queue 300. For example, the module 314can provide a status of the overflow storage 322 when in communication(e.g. asynchronously or synchronously) with the capture module 38 orother components of the host system 14 responsible for management ofimage/data 20 throughput for the host system 14.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the database 22 has a central storage 324 forthe image/data 20 and a plurality of tables 326 (or other appropriatedata structure) for storing representative information 306 of theimage/data 20 as well as any data generated due to the processing (e.g.a result of the decisioning engine 24) and/or settlement 110 (e.g. aresult of the settlement module 25) of the stored image/data. Forexample, the tables 326 of the host system 14 can include tables such asbut not limited to: a deposit file table 328 for storing file IDs anddeposit IDs representing the stored image/data 20; a batch table 330 forstoring batch IDs and corresponding deposit IDS; a transaction table 332for storing transaction IDs and corresponding batch IDs associated withtransactions 26 connected to the stored image/data 20; an item table 334for storing items IDs and associated transaction IDs and member IDs, animage table 334 for storing image IDs, item IDs, and URL IDs associatedwith the image/data 20; and an URL table 336 for storing the URL IDs andthe URL associated with the image/data 20. It is recognised thatconnections 338 represent links between the tables 316,326,40 providingfor automatic updates/propagation of the table data (e.g. update of theIDs of table 336 results in automatic updates of the corresponding IDsin other linked tables 316,326,40).

Further, it is recognised that configuration of these table connections338 between tables 316,326,40 can be configured by a systemadministrator of the host system 14, for example. Further, it isrecognised that the capture module 38 can actively store (e.g. insert,write) data content in selected tables 326 of the host system 14associated with storing of the image/data 20 in the file system 324. Forexample, action “2.2 store image/data” by the capture module 38 to thefile system 324 results in the associated insertion of data, representedby action “2.3 insert data”, into tables 328, 330, 332, 334 and othertables 326 as desired. Further, once the actions “2.2 store image/data”and “2.3 insert data” are coordinated, the capture module 38 canotherwise implement or coordinate the updating (e.g. by action “2.4update tables”) of the data contents for tables 320 (of the host system14) and 40 (of the DBS 36) to reflect the result/status of the actionswith respect to particular image/data 20. For example, once theimage/data 20 for a certain file name 305 is stored in the file system324, or otherwise processed by the host system 14 as further describedbelow, the capture module 38 can proceed to update the status indicator304 of the table 40, thus signifying that the image/data 20 associatedwith the certain file name 305 is ready for inclusion in thecorresponding settlement 110 process where all other settlement 110process criteria have been met (e.g. receipt time indicator 302 showsreceipt time earlier than the predefined cut-off threshold).

Referring again to FIG. 5, the capture module 38 also has a capabilityto pass received image/data 20 to an exception system 310 (either localor remote to the host system 14) via action “2.5 exception handling” inthe event the received image/data 0 is determined not storable orotherwise process worthy by the host system 14 until additionalexception steps are taken

In general, it is recognised that the network system 10 can include aplurality (not shown) of DBSs 36 such that each DBS 36 provides an entrypoint of the image/data 20 associated with the client systems 12,connected to the respective DBS 36, for eventual acknowledgement andstorage by the host system 14 (e.g. part of the web service front endedby the transfer module 312). It is recognised that transfer ofimage/data 20 between the DBS 36 and the database 22 can be done overthe network 11 (or alternate network—not show—e.g. an intranet) asinter-device communication, between the DBS 36 and the database 22 whereboth are hosted as part of the host system 14 on the same deviceintra-device communication, or a combination thereof in the case wherethe network system 10 has multiple DBSs 36 distributed about the networksystem 10.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, operation of the DBS 36 and capture module38 in conjunction with the settlement 110 process are further explained.The client system 12 uploads the image/data 20 to the DBS 36 which isthen accessed by the capture module 38 from the queue 300 to coordinatethe orderly entry of the images/data into the database 22 of the hostsystem 14. It is recognised that the DBS 36 could also poll the clientsystem 12 for available image/data 20 in order for the DBS 36 to uploadthe image/data 20 contents of the queue 300. The acknowledgement module39 is informed of the receipt of the image/data 20 uploads to thedatabase 22 on a case-by-case basis (or batch basis) by the module 38.The module 39 creates a file record in the file table 40, including theappropriate representational information 306 including the statusindicator 304) to note that the image/data 20 file has been received bythe DBS 36 (i.e. temporary storage), such that the image/data 20 statusis noted in the file record as “received but not yet archived” by theindicator 304. Upon successful transfer of the image/data 20 from thequeue 300 to the database 22, the module 38 eventually updates thestatus indicator 304 of the uploaded images/data 20 in the file recordof the table 40 as “archived”.

The acknowledgement module 39 in turn can inform or otherwisecommunicate to the client system 12 that the status of the image/data 20in the file record in the table 40, including transactional status asdesired. It is also recognised that during a settlement 110 operationimplemented by the host decision engine 24, the settlement module 25will access the table 40 to make sure that all images/data 20 receivedby the DBS 36 (i.e. transferred by the client system 12 before aimage/data submission deadline) are included in the database 22(accommodated by the inherent time delay due to processing/storageoperations done to the image/data 20 by, or otherwise coordinated by,the DBS 36 and/or the capture module 38) so that the archivedimages/data 20 are included in the settlement 110 process (e.g.processed into appropriate transaction files 26 as further describedbelow) for sending to members 29 associated with the settlement path 28.Accordingly, last minute entries (i.e. image/data 20 just before thecut-off deadline) to the DBS 36 are recognised by the settlement module25, i.e. to be included in the settlement 110 process when archived, ifpresence of the last minute entries are reflected in the file table 40.It is noted that indication of the existence of the last minute receivedimage/data 20 by the DBS 36 in the file table 40 conveys that thoseimage/data 20 are eligible for settlement 110 but have not yet beenarchived (i.e. stored in the file system 324 of the database 22). it isalso recognised that in the case of an exception arising, the specificimage/data 20 would be taken out of the settlement 110 process as thestatus indicator of the 204 of the table 40 could be updated by thecapture module 38 to reflect the error status, thus allowing thesettlement 110 process to proceed without the erroneous or otherwiseexcepted image/data 20.

In operation of the above DBS 36, the client system 12 keeps checkingback for acknowledgement from the ACK module 39. Further, for example,the module 38 interrogates the image/data 20 file type and image/datacontents, inserts validated image/data 20 into the database 22(typically in a batch mode based on a processing delay (e.g. 5-10minutes) as well as sends an “archived” status to the module 39 throughthe table 40 after the processing delay (e.g. 10-15 minutes) such thatthe module 39 reports vi message 303 the “archived” status to the clientsystem 12. Otherwise, the ACK module 39 could check the file records ofthe table 40 directly (as updated by the module 38) and then report backthe status of the image/data 20 as retrieved from the associated filerecord. Use of the status indicators 304 of the various image/data 20uploads/downloads to the DBS 36 could be for example, during thesettlement 110 process the settlement module 25 kicks off at a specifiedtime (e.g. 8 pm) and then proceeds to check all file records in the filetable 40 until all records initially created by the ACK module 39 eitherhave an “archived” status indicator 304 or an exception status indicator304 (e.g. not deemed archive worthy) and instead the image/data 20 andassociated transaction are excluded from the settlement 110 process andsent to an exceptions database 41 for reporting. Once the status of theimage/data 20 as represented by the status indicator 304 indicates“archived”, the client system 12 could be free to remove the image/data20 from its local storage (i.e. the archived image/data is now theresponsibility of the host system 12) for subsequent retrieval from thedatabase 22 in the future, if needed.

Referring to FIG. 3, example individual timelines 100 for respectiveimage/data 20 uploads to the DBS 36 are shown. The settlement 110process at point 102 in the timelines 100 is a combination of uploadingprocess of the image/data 20 to the queue 300 (e.g. 2 minutes) at point104, sitting in the queue 300 (e.g. 3 minutes) until point 106, which atthat time the respective image/data 20 are now resident “archived” inthe database 22. The decisioning engine 24 will then make additionaldelay (e.g. 4 minutes) to the ultimate readiness of the archivedimage/data 20 for the settlement 110 process at point 102. It isrecognised that the timelines 100 represent all image/data 20 that weresubmitted to the DBS 36 before the settlement 110 deadline 108, e.g. 8pm. Therefore the settlement 110 process of the settlement module 25will start at point 110 when all records entered in the file table 40are indicated as either status “archived” or status “exception”, to helpensure that all image/data 20 uploaded by the client systems 12 to theDBS 36 (accepted as validated) before the cut off time are made part ofthe settlement 110 process by the settlement module 25.

Referring to FIG. 4, it is shown that the file table 40 can be furthersubdivided in to a batch table 50 and/or an item table 52, such thatfile records 54, batch records 56 and item records 58 are created by theACK module 39 and updated by the capture module 38, depending upon thegranularity of the system upload and archiving capabilities. Forexample, a file can consist of 10000 cheque image/data entries, which issubdivided into 50 batches of 200 items each. Therefore, theacknowledgement and ultimate inclusion in the settlement 110 process canbe determined on the file/batch/item level as designed by the networksystem 10. Accordingly, any status flags set in the file/batch/itemtable records as archived would inform the settlement module 25 thatthese files/batches/items are to be included in the settlement 110process. It is also recognised that the decisioning engine 24 could alsoset the status of the table 40 records to indicate that the particularfiles/batches/items have been processed and are therefore ready forsettlement 110 (at point 102—see FIG. 3). Associated images/data 20ready for settlement 110 are sent as transaction files 26 to thesettlement path 28 for settlement 110 processing by the respectivemembers 29, as described above.

Referring to FIG. 6, operation 1600 of the DBS 36 is shown forcoordinating digital storage of the captured paper transaction data(i.e. image/data 20) based on an original paper transaction, such thatthe captured paper transaction data includes at least a digital image ofthe original paper transaction. The operation 1600 includes the stepsof:

step 1602 of receiving the captured paper transaction data over thenetwork 11 by the DBS 36;

step 1604 of storing the captured paper transaction data 20 in a firststorage (e.g. the queue 300) such that the first storage is suitable forcoordinating the transfer of the captured paper transaction data fromthe network 11 to a second storage (e.g. the file system 324);

step 1606 of determining representative information 306 of the capturedpaper transaction data 20 including the priority indicator 302(optional) for the captured paper transaction 20 and the storage statusindicator 304;

step 1608 of storing the priority indicator 302 (optional) and thestorage status indicator 304 in a data structure (e.g. the file table40) configured for access by a transaction processor (e.g. the capturemodule 38 or the settlement module 25);

step 1610 of transferring the captured paper transaction data 20 fromthe first storage 300 to the second storage 324 suitable foraccommodating requests for access to a selected storage record by thetransaction processor 38,25, the storage record for storing the capturedpaper transaction data 20 in the second storage 324 e; and

the step 1612 of updating the storage status indicator 304 in the datastructure 40 to reflect the storage status of the captured papertransaction data 20 as stored in the selected storage record of thesecond storage 324.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7, operation 1620 of the settlement module 25is shown for coordinating the settlement process 110 of a plurality ofcaptured paper transaction data 20 stored in the second storage 324, theplurality of captured paper transaction data 20 based on original papertransactions, and the plurality of captured paper transaction data 20including digital images of the original paper transactions. Theoperation 1620 includes the steps of:

step 1622 of initiating the settlement process 110 once the processingthreshold is reached;

step 1624 of reviewing the data structure 40 associated with the firststorage 300 suitable for facilitating the transfer of the plurality ofcaptured paper transaction data 20 from the network 11 to the secondstorage 324, the data structure 40 configured to contain representativeinformation 306 of the plurality of captured paper transaction data 20including at least the storage status indicator 304 for indicating whenthe captured paper transaction data 20 has been successfully transferredfrom the first storage 300 to the second storage 324;

step 1626 of determining which of the plurality of captured papertransaction data 20 are potentially eligible for the settlement process110 based on a respective priority indicator 302 for each of theplurality of captured paper transaction data 20 satisfying theprocessing threshold; and

step 1628 of delaying the settlement process 110 until all of thepotentially eligible captured paper transaction data 20 are representedby the respective storage status indicators 304 as either successfullystored in the second storage 324 or as confirmed ineligible for thesettlement process 110 based on the captured paper transaction data 20being ineligible for storage in the second storage 324 (e.g. due toexception handling).

In view of the above described operation 1620, it is recognised thatonce the agents operating the client systems 12 have uploaded theirdeposits (e.g. image/data 20) to the Host system 12 via the DBS 36, thesettlement module 25 consolidates the deposits at the scheduled depositcut-off time, and then prepares and forwards the respective transactions26 for the appropriate processing member 29 end-points as defined in thedatabase 22 with respect to the details of the image/data 20.

Decisioning

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 11, the decisioning process 812 and thesettlement process 110 are show in general with respect to exampledecisioning criteria 814, further explained below. The network system 10decisioning system includes configurable engines 24, 502 forfacilitating a centralized management of member-specific decisioninginformation (using decisioning criteria 814) in a configurabledistributed decisioning environment 501. The distributed decisioningenvironment 501 is used by the network system 10 for the purpose ofdetermining which payment (represented by the image/data 20) should besuch as but not limited to; stopped 818, submitted to ACH for electronicprocessing 816, or handled as a paper item processing 820. Thedecisioning system environment 501 can be configured and maintainedthrough a decisioning service or decisioning administration tool 508,which is assisted by the hierarchy 702 (see FIG. 16), further describedbelow. The decisioning criteria 814 (including degree of distribution)are configured by the decisioning administration tool 508 and thedownloaded to the client system 12 (e.g. a remote point of sale system(POS)) for use in configuring the local client decisioning engine 502.Accordingly, it is recognised that the client system 12 can have asubset of the central decisioning information, represented asdecisioning criteria 814. In general, the host system 14 provides amechanism for importing decisioning information (decisioning criteria814) and keeping the remote decisioning of the client systems 12up-to-date.

The distributed decisioning environment 501 utilizes a comprehensive setof decisioning filters 500, 504 (see FIG. 13) capable of providingitem-by-item, for example, decisioning and transaction 26 routing.Regardless of the type of paper documents 18 presented for payment atthe client system 12 (e.g. personal, corporate, money order, coupon,etc. . . . ), the distributed decisioning environment 501 will processthe image/data 20 associated with the paper documents 18 (as well as thepaper documents 18 themselves in the case where a capture of theimage/data 20 is not permitted) based on how the distributed decisioningenvironment 501 is configured. As a result of its flexibility, thedistributed decisioning environment 501 can be configured for at leastsome local item decisioning at the Client system 12, central itemdecisioning at the Host system 14, or a combination of both. Based onthe pre-defined decisioning filters 500,504 (e.g. implemented bydecisioning criteria 814 of Rules, Biller Stops, Check Writer ACHOpt-outs, MICR line Blocks and Bank ACHables) established for thedistributed decisioning environment 501 by the decisioning admin tool508, each paper document 18 is decisioned and thus routed to the mostappropriate member 29 endpoint for use by the settlement process 110 inselecting settlement paths 28 such as but not limited to ACH or ImageReplacement Document (IRD). For example, the distributed decisioningenvironment 501 can assume that all items (e.g. captured image/data 20)will be processed as ACH items. For items that are not eligible for ACHprocessing, such as but not limited to Corporate checks, money orders orconsumer Opt-Outs, for example, the distributed decisioning environment501 can be setup by the admin tool 508 to decision items for processingas either Original Paper Deposits (OPD) where the user will beinstructed to deposit the items at the bank, or Reproduced Paper (RP)where the items will automatically be routed for processing as IRDs, forexample. Items that are configured through the distributed decisioningenvironment 501 as “STOPS” cannot be processed either by host system 14nor by one of the members 29 (e.g. a bank).

It is recognised that the distributed decisioning environment 501 can beprovided as a subscription service for the respective client systems 12that are part of the network system 10. For example, this subscriptionservice can be administered through the admin tool 508 (for example viathe web services layer 252 (see FIG. 1 c) and initiated by assigning asubscribing organization (e.g. the members 29 and their associatedclient systems 12) a System Operator role with the appropriatepermissions to configure the distributed decisioning environment 501through the admin tool 508, for example in assistance with the hierarchy702 (see FIG. 16). Accordingly, the System Operator would be responsiblefor the configuration set-up of the distributed decisioning environment501, as further described below, including set-up of the decisioningcriteria 814 as represented by configuration data 203,262 (see FIGS. 1b,1 c).

Referring to FIGS. 12 a,b,c, further details of the example decisionsfor the image/data 20 resulting from the decisioning process 814 (seeFIG. 11) and the settlement paths 28 resulting from the settlementprocess 110 are given. It is recognised that the network system 10supports client system 12 and/or host system 14 decisioning operationson a per transaction (e.g. image/data 20) and/or group transactionbasis. The decisioning process 814 can be defined as the routing ofpayments between the transaction starting point (e.g. the client systems12) and the settlement endpoints 28. Referring to FIG. 12 a, examplesettlement path endpoints 28 are shown to include stop, paper deposit,IRD, and ACH. Referring to FIG. 12 b, example filter types 822 for thefilters 500,504 (see FIG. 13) along with their example associatedfunctions 824 in the distributed decisioning environment 501 are given.It is recognised that the associated functions 824 can be implemented bysub-filter modules, as desired.

Referring to FIG. 12 c, the table identifies example configurations ofsettlement endpoints 28 with respect to the decisioning filter types 822that the distributed decisioning environment 501 supports, includingexample distribution 826 of the decisioning filters 500,504 at theclient system 12 and host system 14 to effect the distributeddecisioning environment 501. It is recognised that, for example, any ofthe respective filter types 822 can be implemented at both the clientsystem 12 and the host system 14. For example, the local decisioningengine 502, when configured by the decisioning criteria 814 supplied bythe admin tool 508, can apply the stop filter type that provides aresult of eligible for submission to ACH for electronic processing 816(see FIG. 11). However, a subsequent corresponding stop filter typeapplied by the host system 14 decisioning engine 24 (once the resultantimage/data 20 is sent to the capture module 38 for coordination ofinsertion to the database 20) can result in an override of the engine502 decision, which provides a stopped 818 decision as a settlement path28 for the image/data 20.

Client System 12 Decisioning

The client systems 12 for capture of the paper transaction data (e.g.image/data 20) are provided in the network system 10 as a series ofdistributed, remote (from the host system 12) client systems 12responsible for image and transactional data capture and forwarding. Thebasic premise of the client systems 12 is that they are distributed datacapture points of the network system 10 and the client systems 12 areconfigured to assist in the decisioning process ultimately monitored bythe decisioning engine 24 of the host system 12. The client systems 12can take on many forms, including such as but not limited toapplications for a PC, a browser, a terminal based application, a mobiledevice, as well as single lane or multi-lane embodiments. The clientsystems 12 can connect to the network 11 (e.g. Internet) via the networkinterface 200, e.g. modem, dial-up, for example, as well as FTP andInternet IP based communications (e.g. HTTP).

The client system 12 can be referred to as a thick (client in that theclient system 12 also has decisioning capabilities via the clientdecisioning engine 502 (e.g. pre-decisioning). Configuration of theclient decisioning engine 502 is coordinated by configuration parameters207 that are downloaded/uploaded as packages 209 at the client system 12with respect to the host system 14. These configuration parameters 207can be applied via the configuration module 203 to the client system 12upon activation or otherwise sign-on to the system 10 (e.g. everymorning any updates to the configuration parameters are applied to theclient decisioning engine 502 and other aspects of client system 12configuration).

In general, the client system 12 can stores the majority of content andfunctionality on the local hard drive 212 (see FIG. 1 b) in order toimplement part of the distributed decisioning environment 501 (see FIG.13). An example is part of the decisioning process 812 (see FIG. 11) forthe captured image/data 20 can be implemented locally on the clientsystem 12 without having to wait for potentially delayed interactionwith the host system 14 via the network 11 (e.g. reduce the need foraccessing the host system 14 through an on-line connection, whichnormally causes some waiting time). One benefit of the thick clientsystem 12 is that the captured image/data 20 content can be manipulatedlocally many times without having to wait for information from the hostsystem 14 during processing of the captured image/data 20. This iscompared to a thin-client embodiment of the client system 12, whichwould only display information about the captured image/data 20 withoutany on-board decisioning capabilities without interaction over thenetwork with the host system 14, e.g. a typical thin-client system (notshown) would be an Internet browser that is set to store no informationin its cache memory.

Referring again to FIG. 1 b, client system 12 decisioning records (i.e.the configuration data 207 associated with the filters 504 of thedecisioning engine 502, can be downloadable via the admin tool 508 (e.g.from the host system 14) the according to client systems 12configuration settings. For example, the client system 12 can implementthe decisioning filters 504 (see FIG. 13) including filter types such asbut not limited to: NACHA eligibility rules (e.g. checks only); billerstops; consumer opt-outs; ACH eligibility rules; predefined networksystem 10 rules (e.g. custom rules provided by members 29); and FederalReserve Receiver File blocks. For example, based on the above presentedfiltering types, the user of the client system 12 can be presented (viathe user interface 202) a message if a decisioning hit is detected andif a check is the current paper document 18 or a coupon is the currentdocument 18 and the decisioning endpoint is greater than that of any oneof the previous checks by the filter types in for resulting in thecorresponding transaction 26.

Example Transaction Flow of the Client Systems 12 Including Decisioning

Pre-decisioning actions taken by the client decisioning engine 502 caninclude processing such as but not limited to: duplicate items aremonitored such that duplicate paper transactions can be identified bysame bank, account, and check number as determined by a paper imageparsing module (not shown). The client system 12 can also determine orotherwise pre-process which items belong in which batch files as well aswhich items belong in which item groups and files (containing aplurality of batches). Accordingly, the client decisioning engine 502can guide the client system 12 user though manual, semi-automatic,and/or automated assignment and correction (if necessary) of items intotheir desired (either user configurable or system imposed or acombination thereof) categories, such as but not limited to item, itemgroup, batch, and file, all of which can be part of the decisioningprocess to provide for more efficient downstream secondary decisioningat the host system 14. Assignment of the items into their correspondingcategories can be done according to criteria such as but not limited toclient ID, scanner ID, scanner type, payment type, associated member ID,etc. . . . An item can be defined as an image of a paper document plusits related data, either electronically captured or manually entered. Atransaction 26 can be defined as a set of one or more items related to aselected payment transaction 26. A batch can be defined as a grouping ofone or more transactions 26 processed over a period of time, as well asa grouping of one or more items.

The following are example workflows of the processing done by the clientsystem 12 for the captured image/data 20. For example, the client system12 can supports single (“key now”) and batch (“key later”) modes foreach of the supported scanners 16 and example transaction profiles (suchas but not limited to check only, singles, multiples) as describedbelow.

“Check Only”

a) Single Mode, No Franking/Pocketing;

-   -   If check 18 is inserted, run it to exit (EC)/pocket 0 (DCC)        position, wait for user input;    -   If user is typing, accept user input, wait for check;    -   When last field is entered and front of the check 18 is scanned,        decision the transaction by the engine 502;    -   If the transaction is to be saved and back of check 18 is        configured, wait for back of check 18 and scan it to exit        (EC/pocket 0 (DCC) position;    -   Save/rollback the transaction;        b) Single Mode, with Franking/Pocketing;    -   If check 18 is inserted, run it into a hold position, wait for        user input;    -   If user is typing, accept user input, wait for check 18;    -   When last field is entered and front of the check 18 is scanned,        decision by the engine 502 the transaction and frank or backout        (EC)/pocket 0 (DCC) position;    -   Save/rollback the transaction;        c) Batch Mode, No Franking/Pocketing;    -   Present message window “Scanning in progress . . . ” with button        STOP;        -   If button STOP is pressed while the scanning is in progress            the batch scan interrupts and the transaction flow moves to            the next step;    -   (Capture) Scan all the documents 18 in BATCH mode;    -   (Keying) For each transaction images are retrieved using the        GETIMAGES mode:        -   Show the check 18 image;        -   Wait for user input;        -   Decision the transaction by the engine 502;        -   If the transaction is to be saved, back of check 18 is            configured and the scanner 16 is enables, show the back of            check 18 image;        -   Save/rollback the current transaction and repeat the loop            again for the next transaction;        -   “Cancel transaction” on any step will rollback the current            transaction and repeat the loop again for the next            transaction;        -   “Cancel transaction” on any step will rollback the current            transaction and repeat the loop again for the next            transaction;            d) Batch Mode, with Franking/Pocketing;    -   N/A (decisioning by the engine 502 may not be done without        two-pass scan)

“Singles” (1 Coupon, 1 Check)

a) Single Mode, No Franking/Pocketing;

-   -   If coupon 18 is inserted, run it to exit (EX)/pocket 0 (DCC)        position, wait for user input;    -   If user is typing, accept user input, wait for coupon 18;    -   When last field is entered and coupon 18 is scanned, decision        coupon document 18;    -   The rest of the process is the same as in “Check Only” Single        Mode, No Franking/Pocketing scenario;        b) Single Mode, with Franking/Pocketing;    -   If coupon 18 is inserted, run it to exit (EC)/pocket 0 (DCC)        position, wait for user input;    -   If user is typing, accept user input, wait for coupon 18;    -   When last field is entered and coupon is scanned, decision        coupon document 18;    -   The rest of the process is the same as in “Check Only” Single        Mode, With Franking/Pocket scenario;        c) Batch Mode, No Franking/Pocketing;    -   Present message window “Scanning in progress . . . ” with button        STOP;        -   If button STOP is pressed while the scanning is in progress            the batch scan interrupts and the transaction flow moves to            the next step;    -   (Capture) Scan all the documents 18 in BATCH mode;    -   (Keying) For each transaction images are retrieved using the        GETIMAGES mode:        -   Show the coupon 18 image;        -   Wait for user input;        -   When last field is entered, decision coupon document;        -   Show the check 18 image;        -   Wait for user input;        -   Decision the transaction by the engine 502;        -   If the transaction is to be saved, back of check 18 is            configured and the scanner is enabled, show the back of            check 18 image;        -   Save/rollback the current transaction and repeat the loop            again for the next transaction;        -   “Cancel transaction” on any step will rollback the current            transaction and repeat the loop again for the next            transaction;            d) Batch Mode, with Franking/Pocketing:    -   N/A (decisioning may be impossible without two-pass scan)

“Multies” (1 Coupon, Variable Number of Checks)

a) Single Mode, No Franking/Pocketing;

-   -   If coupon 18 is inserted, run it to exit (EC)/pocket 0 (DCC)        position, wait for user input;    -   If user is typing, accept user input, wait for coupon 18;    -   When last field is entered and coupon is scanned, decision        coupon document 18;    -   For each check 18 document:        -   If check 18 is inserted, run it to exit (EC)/pocket 0 (DCC)            position, wait for user input;        -   If user is typing, accept user input, wait for check 18;        -   When last field is entered and front of the check 18 is            scanned, decision the transaction by the engine 502;        -   If the transaction is to be saved and back of check 18 is            configured, wait for back of check 18 and scan it to exit            (EC)/pocket 0 (DCC) position;        -   If user clicks “End Transaction” go to the next step,            otherwise repeat the loop again for the next check 18            document;    -   Save/rollback the transaction;        b) Single Mode, with Franking/Pocketing;    -   N/A (decisioning may be impossible without two-pass scan)        c) Batch Mode, No Franking/Pocketing;    -   Present message window “Scanning in progress . . . ” with button        END TRANSACTION;    -   (Capture) Scan all the documents in BATCH mode;        -   If button END TRANSACTION is pressed the transaction flow            moves to the next step;    -   (Keying) Each document is retrieved using the GETIMAGES mode        -   Show the coupon image;        -   Wait for user input;        -   When last field is entered, decision coupon document;        -   For each check document;            -   Show the check image;            -   Wait for user input;            -   Decision the check document;            -   If the transaction is to be saved, back of check is                configured and the scanner is an RDM EC6-series scanner,                show the back of check image;            -   Repeat the loop again for the next check document;        -   Save/rollback the current transaction;        -   “Cancel transaction” on any step will rollback the current            transaction;            d) Batch Mode, with Franking/Pocketing;    -   N/A (decisioning may be impossible without two-pass scan)

In view of the above, it is recognised that the workflow of the clientsystem 12, as configured by example only, demonstrates the interactivenature of the local decisioning process by the engine 502 as part of thecomplete capturing process of the image/data representative of the paperdocument 18. A further example of the interaction between thedecisioning of the local engine 502 of the client system 12 in view ofthe entire distributed decisioning environment 501 is shown below,consisting of the steps (also showing interaction between engine 502 andthe user interface 202:

step a) Capture front image and code line data of the paper document 18;

step b) If errors are detected in the codeline the check 18 will beautomatically rejected or the cashier will be prompted (e.g. by theengine 502) to correct it via a pip-up dialog box (configurable);

step c) The raw codeline will be displayed;

step d) reject characters (e.g. by the engine 502) will be highlightedfor re-keying;

step e) If bank number on the codeline fails the ABA check digitalgorithm (9 digit) the check 18 will be automatically rejected (e.g. bythe engine 502) or the cashier will be prompted (e.g. by the engine 502)to correct it via a pop-up dialog box (configurable);step f) If check 18 contains an “Aux on-up” filed, then the item shallbe considered as a Business Check and either be automatically accepted(e.g. by the engine 502) or prompt (e.g. by the engine 502) the cashierwhether to continue or cancel (configurable);step g) Scanned item 18 shall be verified (e.g. by the engine 502) witha local verification database 210 based on check 18 codeline ortransaction data entered into configurable fields on the form;step h) If there is a record in the database 210 matching (e.g. by theengine 502) the current transaction the user shall be presented (e.g. bythe engine 502) a blocking message and transaction will be rejected,Verification database records can be installed automatically with theclient application on the client system 12;step i) Enter Check 18 Amount for checking against maximum thresholdvalue (e.g. by the engine 502)—where check 18 is rejected (e.g. by theengine 502) if above maximum, user shall be able to specify if theamount field should preserve last entered value to be used as a defaultin the next transaction;step j) Enter User Fields (configurable);step k) If an ARC mode, then capture rear image (configurable), asverified present by the engine 502);step l) Capture configurable number of associated items;step m) Print merchant or file receipt (configurable);step n) Print customer receipt (configurable);step o) the user may cancel the transaction at any time such that noother batch or application related action may be allowed until thetransaction is complete;step p) the incomplete transaction shall be automatically cancelled dueto a timeout after a configured amount of time elapses since the momentit was started by the user; andstep q) the accepted image/data 20 is sent to the host system 14 (viathe DBS 36).Example Decisioning Engine 502 Functionality

Referring to FIG. 13, the decisioning engine 24 (aka part of the dynamicdecisioning portal DDP), receives all image/data 20 for secondarydecisioning and routing processing for assigning to the appropriatesettlement destination/path 28 (used by the settlement process 110),such as but not limited to ACH, aft, Image Replacement Document IRD, orimage exchange. Further, the creation of paper drafts and image exchangeitems could also be supported. It is recognised that for image exchangethe transaction data and image data (i.e. image/data 20) are only sentthough the network system 10, with no physical paper check to follow. Iis recognised that the physical form of the image/data 20 can bereproduced upon request from the host system 14. The engine 24 islocated at the host system 14, for example, and has the set ofdecisioning filters 500 capable of providing item by item decisioningand transaction 26 routing. The engine 24 is configured to accommodatepersonal, corporate, money order, or other document images/data fordecisioning and routing, for example. The engine 24 can be configured tointeract (via the configuration module 257 and configuration data262—see FIG. 1 c) with local decisioning/routing at the client (usingthe local engine 502 with associated filters 504), can be configured forcentral decisioning/routing at the host system 14 alone using engine 24and filters 500, or a combination of both such that the engines 24,502share decisioning/routing capabilities. Based on the predefined filters500,504 established or otherwise coordinated by the host system 14 viathe admin configuration tool 508, the engines 24,502 can be configuredfor such as but not limited to: decisioning of items (extraction of theindividual items from the batches which are extracted from the files—asgiven above); for processing as either Original Paper Deposits OPD wherethe user will be instructed to deposit the items at the bank; andReproduced Paper RP where the items will be automatically routed forprocessing as IRDs. Items that are decided as STOPs cannot be processedas transactions 26 by either the host system 14 nor by the destination29 (e.g. bank).

Example Operation of the Decisioning Engine 24

Referring again to FIG. 13, the client system 12 will receive updates oradditions of the local filters 504 from the host system 14 that havebeen modified by the tool 508 operator. It is recognised thatdecisioning by the filters 504 can be overridden or otherwise changed bythe filters 500 during the portion of the decisioning process 812 (seeFIG. 11), such that the ultimate decisioning/routing for channelling theimage/data 20 can be controlled by the host system 14. For example, thefilters 504 can include such as but not limited to 1 stop, 2 opd, 3 PR,and 4 undecided. Stream 510 can be selected initially by the clientsystem 12 for sending the image/data 20 to the archive (database 22)only. Similarly, stream 514 can be selected by the engine 502 and thensent to the engine 24 for ultimate decisioning as 1 stop, 2 RP or 3 ACH.Similarly, stream 512 can be directed without change when received bythe engine 24. It is recognised that other changes to the streaming canbe done by the engine 24 in response to initial received streams510,512,514 as decided by the client system 12, thus resulting in theassigned settlement paths 28 for use in settlement process 110 forgeneration of the transactions 26 sent to the members 29. It isrecognised that the override capability of the filters 500 of the engine24 could be based on configuration data 262 providing for selection ofthe respective settlement path 28 according to a predefined priority ofthe filter types (e.g. filter STOP, if eligible, takes precedence overfilter RP, if eligible, which takes precedence over filter ACH, etc. . .. ).

Further Embodiments Demonstrating Example Interaction Between Engines24,502

Referring to FIG. 12 d, the following example table 830 summarizesexample configurations 827 for the distributed decisioning environment501 of FIG. 13. The table 830 indicates the decisioning filter types 822as per the decisioning criteria 814, the processing location 830 aseither the client 12 and/or the host 14, the expected settlement path28, and example user messages 828 for presentation to the client system12 (either directly if decision is local or via indirectly via thenetwork 11 if the decision is on the host 12). In addition, the variousworkflows 832, 834, 836 of the configurations 827 are given by examplein FIGS. 12 e,f,g respectively, denoting possible client side processing838 and host side processing 840 of the distributed decisioningenvironment 501.

Configuration Administration Tool 508

Referring to FIG. 14, each time (or other specified period) the agentoffices use one of the Client systems 12 to connect to the Host system14. Upon start-up for example, the local decisioning filters 504 areupdated by the configuration module 203 (e.g. via a deposit upload or asscheduled) with any changes that have been made for the distributeddecisioning environment 501 by the Operator of the admin tool 508. Theupdates are provided as the configuration data packages 209 sent to theclient system 12 over the network 11. It is recognised that similarpackages 209 appropriate for the host system 14 can be sent over thenetwork 11 in the case where the decisioning engine 24 is remote fromthe tool 508, otherwise the configuration data 262 can be stored in thedatabase 22 for retrieval by the decisioning engine 24, as desired. Itis recognised that the updating of the engine 24 by the configurationmodule 257 (see FIG. 1 c) may take place synchronously or asynchronouslywith those updates performed at the client system 12, depending if theupdates at the client system 12 impact operation of the filters 500 ofthe host system 14. The synchronous/asynchronous updating of theconfiguration data 207,262 is coordinated by an implementation module852 of the tool 508. For example, the implementation module 852 cancoordinate the Client 12 system downloads, or inherits (through thehierarchy 702—see FIG. 1 c), the decisioning criteria 812 from the tool508 and then depending on whether decisioning is set to occur at theClient 12 or Host 14, the image/data 20 Items/batches will be routed forprocessing accordingly by the decisioning process 812 and the settlementprocess 110.

Referring again to FIG. 14, the tool 508 also has a decision managersystem 850 for determining the appropriate settings for the decisionfilter types 822 (see FIG. 12 d), depending upon the configurationdecided upon by the operator of the tool 508. The decision manager 855of the system 850 manages all high level database interactions andinternal decisioning management, where each of objects 853 areresponsible for interaction with their associated database table 326(see FIG. 5). The tool 508 also has a selection module 854 for preparingthe configuration data 207,262 according to the settings determined bythe decision manager system 850.

Referring again to FIGS. 12 d and 14, the following steps can beperformed by the decisioning manager system 850 to set-up theconfiguration data 207,262, such as but not limited to:

1. Configure the ACH Rules filter type 822 to decision the items asineligible for ACH processing, e.g. a. Corporate checks (checkscontaining the Auxiliary OnUs fields) and b. Money orders (do notcontain the check number field).

2. Configure the MICR Blocks filter type 822 to block specificidentified numbers, e.g. bank RT and account number(s), from beingprocessed as ACH items on a selected region of influence (e.g. on acorporate-wide basis);

3. Configure the Stops filter type 822 to stop specific identifiednumbers, e.g. policyholder remittance account number(s), or bank RT andaccount number(s), from being accepted for processing by the distributeddecisioning system 501;

4. configure the opt-out filter type 822 to decision specific numbers,e.g. policy holder remittance account number(s), or bank RT and accountnumber(s), from being processed as ACH items on a selected region ofinfluence (e.g. on a corporate-wide basis); and

5. Configure at their parent node, for item decisioning to occur eitherat the Client 12 (locally), Host 14 level (centrally) or not at all. TheSystem Operator can also select the appropriate processing endpoint(e.g. OPD or RP) for each decisioning filter type 822, along with anoptional message to appear at the Client 12 each time an item were tomatch the decisioning criteria established at the host 14.

In view of the above, the system operator of the network system 10configures the host/client system and associated engines 24,502 throughthe admin tool 508. The filters 500,504 can be configured by theoperator manually/semi-automatically/automatically via the tool 508,filters 500,504 such as but not limited to fiscal/type rules, billerstops, check writer ACH optouts, MICR line blocks and bank ACHables. Itis recognised that application of the filters 500,504 by the engines24,502 can provide for stream selection of the image/data 20 as thetransactions 26 thus routed to the most appropriate settlement path 28for processing such as ACH or IRD at the member 29 destination. Thefilters 504 and associated engine 502 of the client system 12 aredownloaded (e.g. inherited) by the host system 14 according to theconfiguration of the engine 24, and engine 500, as to the separation ofthe decisioning criteria between host 14 and client 12 system. Further,ACHable transactions 26 can be further defined as either ARC (AccountsReceivable Check—person not present at time of image/data 20 capture) orPOP (point of purchase check—person present at the time of image/data 20capture).

Referring to FIG. 15, in a method 600, the operator of the configurationtool 508 configures 602 the host system 14 to have the decisioning rulesof the filters 500. At step 604, the host system 12 (e.g. via the tool508) is used to implement the degree of sharing of thedecisioning/routing (i.e. filter 504 contents). At step 606 a shareddecisioning/routing setup is selected and at step 608 the appropriatecontent for the filter 504, from the complete set of decisioning filtercontent provided by the decisioning criteria 812 (stored for example inthe database 22), is downloaded to the client system 12. At step 610 theremaining portion of the decisioning filter content set (complimentaryto that content of the filters 504) is transferred or otherwiseconfigured as the filter 500. Otherwise at step 612 the host system isselected as the central decisioning/routing coordinator and the filter500 is configured 614 to contain all of the necessary set of decisioningfilter content.

At step 616 the image/data 20 is produced by the client system 12 inresponse to scanner operation and the decisioning filters 504 areapplied 618 (if available) such that initial decisioning/routing is donefor the image/data 20 before uploading to the host system 14. Otherwise,at step 620 the image/data 20 are sent directly to the host system fordecisioning. At step 622, the host filters 500 are applied and eitherconfirm the decision/route selected by the client system or override thedecision/route according to the filters 500. At step 624, the settlementmodule 25 initiates the settlement process 110 at a predefined time (orother threshold) and the available decisioned/routed image/data 20(resident in the database 22) is packaged as the transaction file(s) 26.At step 626 the decisioned/routed image/data 20 is sent as thetransaction(s) 26 via the selected settlement paths 28 to theappropriate member 29 endpoint(s) for further processing (e.g. ACH).

It is recognised in the above embodiment of the tool 508 that theimplementation module 852 can send to the systems 12,14 either thecomplete content of the filters 500,504 (or a portion thereof) includingfilter type settings, just changes to existing filter type settings ofpreinstalled filters 500,504, or a combination thereof.

Hierarchy Management Structure of Host-Client Network

Referring to FIG. 16, management of the network system 10 is structuredsuch that there are a series of member nodes 700 (e.g. parent, child),organised in a hierarchy 702 (i.e. child node 700 inherits traits, data,rules of the parent node(s) 700), that are associated with respectiveclient systems 12 as part of the overall network of image/data captureof documents 18. The actual image/data 20 that are associated with eachof the nodes 700 is stored preferably centrally in the database 22 ofthe host system 14, and settlement information 720 of the settlementprocess 110 (e.g. including the decided settlement paths 28) isassociated with each of the nodes 700 that originated the decisionedimage/data 20, for example. The hierarchy 702 provides a hierarchicalaccess control mechanism for the network system 10 that explicitlydefines data access relationships and inheritance of information (e.g.attributed to decisioning). Further, use of the hierarchy 702 providesfor configuration of the client systems 12 and the host system 14 forthe decisioning process 814 (see FIG. 11), as well as providescoordination for the implementation of the settlement process 110 usedto collect all decided settlement paths 28 associated with thedecisioned image/data 20 of the database 22.

An operator or other system administrator(s) 703 can use the tool 508 toreview or otherwise update/reconfigure particular node 700functionality, content and local structure (including decisioningcapabilities). For example, the tool 508 can be used facilitate allmajor administrative functions 856 (see FIG. 14) used for the day-to-dayrunning of the network system 10 as well as the standard searchfacilities accessed through the web tools 32 (see FIG. 1) used bycustomers (e.g. client systems 12 and members 29) of the network system10 to access items and images in the database 22. The administrativefunctions can include functions such as but not limited to management ofthe member hierarchy 318 (part of the hierarchy 702) and the associatedusers, roles, permissions, distribution settings and contactinformation, as well as search criteria input, results and imageviewing, item results distribution, and the decisioning 814 andsettlement 110 process configuration (see FIG. 11). The scope ofinfluence of the operator 703 through the tool 508 depends upon theattachment point 874 (see FIG. 17) of the tool 508 to the member nodehierarchy 702, e.g. through implementation via sign-on privileges thatfacilitates connection of the operator session of the tool 508 to thepredefined node 700 of the hierarchy 702.

For example, referring again to FIG. 16, attachment point A of the tool508 to the hierarchy 702 could allow the operator 703 to review orotherwise configure the “parent” node B and the associated “child” nodesC and D based on the administrative functions 856 available to thatoperator 703. It should be noted in the case of node D, the settlementdata set 720 is resultant from the one coupled client system 12 (e.g. aninsurance field agent operating out of an office—Node D), while the nodeC has two settlement data sets 720 coupled to one client system 12 (e.g.two field agents working out of one office—Node C). In this example, theNode B could be the Central office of the insurance company for Canada,while the node E could be the central office of the internationalinsurance company. Therefore, the operator 703 through attachment pointA could be able to review/configure features and functionality of thenodes B, C, D, while would be restricted from viewing or otherwiseamending the features/functionality of Nodes E and F. It is recognisedthat the hierarchy 702 is structured as a flexible architecture wherebynodes 700 can be added, deleted, updated, reviewed, and reattached toother hierarchy 702 points by the operator 703, as provided for orotherwise permission(s) associated with the attachment point (e.g. A) ofthe tool 508.

Referring again to FIG. 16, configuration of the member nodes 700 of thehierarchy 702 can include such as but not limited to: manage membernodes 700, manage users of the nodes 700, permissions of theusers/member nodes 700, configuration of settlement operation 110,configuration of the filter types 812 and associated rules/settings, andconfigure filters 500, 504 (e.g. installation of filter types 812 andtheir respective settings), deployment of software updates forupdating/adding/removing features/functionality of the scanner 16,client system 12, and member nodes 700 administering the client systems12. It is recognised that the host system 14 can be used to coordinatecommunication of the nodes 700 with one another as well as of thecoupled client systems 12 through a member management module 27 (seeFIG. 1), for example associate with at least the tool 508 used by theroot 860 level node of the network system 10. The module 27 coordinatesthe application of the hierarchy 702 for all nodes 700 with associatedclient systems 12 connected to the particular host system 14 and it'sassociated database 22. It is recognised that the modules 27 can belocated at each of the nodes 700 and interact with the module 27 (e.g.main module 27) for implementing the distributed decisioning environment501 (see FIG. 13) as administered by a distributed configurationenvironment 858 (e.g. cooperation of connected modules 27 and associatedtools 508—where some of the modules 27 may not be hosted by a particulartool 508, rather they would be hosted by the particular node 700, forexample).

Referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, it is recognised that use of multipletools 508 (one or more as desired by the network system 10) byrespective operators 703 (e.g. one tool 508 for every node 700 that isset up to generate configuration data 207, 262—see FIG. 14) results inthe distributed configuration environment 858 for the plurality of nodes700. These nodes 700 are structured into the hierarchy 702 using membertypes such as but not limited to: a root 860 level which is the very topnode 700 of the hierarchy 702 and is generally the network system 10administrator and provider of the network system 10; a customer 862level having node(s) 700 who make contact with the root 860 level foraccess to the distributed decisioning environment 501 (see FIG. 13),e.g. a customer 862 level node 700 can be an acquirer; a merchant 864level having node(s) 700 who own locations where the transactions 26originate; a store 866 level having node(s) 700 which are thegeographical (or Internet) location where the transactions 26 originate;a terminal 868 level having node(s) 700 which are the particular POSinstallations, e.g. the client system 12; and a group 870 level havingnode(s) 700 (optional—not shown) who are artificial members 29 used toprovide a grouping for administration or reporting purposes. Forexample, the hierarchy 702 can enforce the member hierarchy 318 in thefollowing example order; root 860 level, customer 862 level, merchant864 level, store 866 level, and terminal 868 level, such thatdecisioning configuration data 207,262 (and other configuration data) isinherited from the parent node 700 by all dependent nodes 700 (e.g. thestore 866 node inherits all configuration data 207,262 from the merchant864 level node, who inherits all configuration data 207,262 from thecustomer 862 level node, etc. . . . Connections between the nodes 700 ofthe various levels 860,862,864,866,868 is shown symbolically byreference numeral 872. An example set of administration functions 856 isgiven in Appendix A.

For example, referring again to FIG. 17, a specific member configuration876 is shown in the hierarchy 702, where once the filters 500,504 (seeFIG. 13) were configured at a UFC corporate node in the level 862, thesefilters 500,504 are automatically inherited downstream (as coordinatedby the admin tool 508 and respective modules 27,852,854 whereapplicable) by each of the agent office “nodes” (e.g. UFC1, UFC2) in thehierarchy. For example, consider the UFC corporate node can be the“parent” and the UFC1, UFC2 agent nodes can be the “children”, such thatall children automatically inherit the filter 500,504 configurations andapply/store them. Further, for example the UFC node was not required toconfigure the ACHables filter of the filters 500,504, as this specificfilter type was configured by a XYZ Financial Institution node toinclude all ACHable bank RT numbers for ACH processing, for example,which was then automatically (or otherwise coordinated) inherited by UFCparent and UFC1, UFC2 child nodes. It is recognised that each of thenodes 700 of the hierarchy 702 would have a suitable configurationmodule (e.g. module 203 in the case of the client system 12—see FIG. 1b) for storing the configuration data 207,262 inherited (as well as thatconfiguration data 207,262 generated by local tools 508), and for eitherusing the configuration data 207,262 to configure the attached clientsystem 12 or to further transmit the configuration data 207,262 furtherdown the hierarchy to the dependent (e.g. child) nodes. It is recognizedthat all member 29 configurations (e.g. member configuration 876) maynot have all levels 860,602,864,866,868, as desired by the respectivemembers 29.

In general, one embodiment of the hierarchy 702 can operate using rulesgoverning decisioning configuration as follows:

ACH is the prime method of settling check 18 items, unless the networksystem 10 is otherwise configured to route items for processing aseither Original Paper Deposit or Reproduced Paper;

all decisioning information for a particular member node 700 alsoapplies to it child members;

it may not be possible to stop decisioning information from applying tochild member nodes 700;

child nodes 700 can have direct decisioning information (configured bythe local admin tool 508) added to them and can utilize inheriteddecisioning information (configured by the remote admin tool 508) aswell; and

users may not be not allowed to override the decisioning informationinherited at their member node 700 or respective child member node(s)700.

Referring again to FIG. 16, ownership of the settlement data 720 (e.g.within the database 22) is associated with the node 700 of the hierarchy702 to which the image/data 20 is assigned (e.g. generated by therespective client system 12). This ownership of settlement data 720 viathe hierarchy 702 is used to facilitate the settlement process 110, asfurther described below.

Referring to FIG. 18, the hierarchy 702 is shown for use in:coordinating the management of the nodes and respective client systems12 though inherited dissemination 800 of configuration informationpackages 209 (node features/functions, decisioning/routing criteria,filter location, software update, etc. . . . ) from the upper parentnodes down through the corresponding child node(s) and attached clientsystems 12. For example, according to inheritance rules, all selectedconfiguration information packages 209 of node 1 would be distributedautomatically to nodes 2,3 and associated nodes 4,5,6,7. However, anyadditional configuration information 802 (generated by the local tool508—see FIG. 17) at node 3 would only be disseminated or otherwiseinfluence nodes 6 and 7, while additional configuration information 804at node 2 would only be disseminated or otherwise influence nodes 4 and5, For example, node 1 would have configuration 209, node 2 would haveconfiguration 209 and 804, node 3 would have configuration 209 and 802,nodes 4 and 5 would have configuration 209 and 804 plus any additionallocal configuration information 805, 806. Similarly nodes 6 and 7 wouldhave configuration 209 and 802 and plus any additional localconfiguration information 807, 808. It should be noted that theconfiguration management of the nodes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 by the respectivemodules 27 is assisted by the hierarchy 702 through inheritance ofconfiguration information (i.e. the modules 27 have access to thehierarchy 702 so as to facilitate the dissemination 800—e.g.transmission over the network 11—of the respective configuration data).It is also recognised that inherited configuration information may notbe overridden at the respective children nodes, as desired in set up ofthe network system 10.

Referring to FIG. 19, the settlement process 110 of the module 27utilises the hierarchy 702 of the nodes 1,2,3,4,5,6 to gather thesettlement data 720, starting from the bottom of the hierarchy 702. Thesettlement process 110 collects the settlement data 20 attributed toeach of the lower children nodes (e.g. level A1). The process 110 thencollects the settlement data 720 attributed to each of the adjacentparent nodes at level A2. Once the gathering of settlement data 720 iscomplete for all the nodes, the resultant transaction files 26 aregenerated and send by the host system 14 to the respective members 29(those members 29 to which the individual decisioned image/data 20 isattributed to by respective IDs—see FIG. 1 d).

In review of the above described hierarchy 702, it is recognised thatthe deployment of configuration information (e.g. dissemination process800) to the nodes 700 is implemented from the top down in terms ofinheritance, as well as locally generated configuration data dependingupon the connection point 874 of the administration tool(s) 508 to thehierarchy 702. For example, there could be one tool 508 foradministrating a group of nodes 700 where each node 700 and/or sub groupof nodes 700 would also have their respective tools 508 andcorresponding connection points 874 (in the case where those nodes 700have permission to augment the inherited configuration data). On thecontrary, the settlement process 110 is coordinated by use of thehierarchy 702 from the bottom up to gather settlement data 720 residentlocally at the node 700 (logically through IDs—see FIG. 1 d), as well asresident remotely in the central database 22 (physically), for example.

Example Settlement Process 110 Using the Hierarchy 702

Referring to FIGS. 1, 16 and 20, an operation 900 for coordinating thegeneration of a plurality of transactions 26 from settlement data 720associated with decisioned transaction data 20 (e.g. image/data 20)originally captured by at least one client system 12 is shown. Thecaptured transaction data 20 is based on original paper 18 transactionsand includes at least digital images of the respective original paper 18transactions. The operation 900 includes steps such as but not limitedto:

step 902—assigning respective portions of the settlement data 720 to afirst node 700 and a second node 700;

step 904—providing a hierarchical relationship 702 between the firstnode 700 in a first hierarchy level (e.g. levels 860,602,864,866,868)and the second node 700 in a second hierarchy level (e.g. the level860,602,864,866,868 dependent to the first level), the first node 700related to the second node 700 as a dependent node;

step 906—initiating the settlement process 110 at the second node 700for collecting all settlement data 720 assigned to the second node 720;

step 908—continuing the settlement process 110 at the first node 700 asdefined by the hierarchical relationship 702 for collecting allsettlement data 720 assigned to the first node 700; and

step 910—generating the plurality of transactions 26 based on thecollected settlement data 720 for sending to at least one member 29system responsible for electronically processing the plurality oftransactions 26.

I claim:
 1. A wireless computing device configured for capture and pre-decision processing of digital data related to a document in a distributed decisioning environment having a set of decisioning filters, the digital data including at least a digital image of the document associated with a financial transaction, the mobile device configured for communication over a wireless communications network with a server of the distributed decisioning environment, the mobile device comprising: a storage for storing a local decisioning filter of the set of decisioning filters, the local decisioning filter including exception criteria, the set of decisioning filters for determining a settlement path for the digital data; a device for converting the document to the digital image and associated data as the digital data; and a processor configured to implement instructions of: apply the local decisioning filter to the digital data to produce pre-decisioned digital data reflecting a first decision result of the pre-decision processing; and transmit the pre-decisioned digital data over the wireless communications network for subsequent receipt by the server; wherein the server is configured to further decision the pre-decisioned digital data using one or more additional decisioning filters of the set of decisioning filters.
 2. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the exception criteria includes a minimum information exception defining whether the digital image contains a minimum amount of transactional information.
 3. The wireless computing device of claim 2, wherein the processing of the digital data is performed on the wireless computing device without having to wait for information from the server during said processing.
 4. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the associated data includes at least one of: a date of capture of the digital data; a reference number of the digital image; or capture site information of the digital data.
 5. The wireless computing device of claim 4, wherein the capture site information is a merchant identification.
 6. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the associated data includes Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) information.
 7. The wireless computing device of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to implement the instruction of: check an amount of the original paper document against a maximum threshold value.
 8. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to implement the instruction of: check an amount of the original paper document against a maximum threshold value.
 9. The wireless computing device of claim 8, wherein the maximum threshold value is a fiscal rule.
 10. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to implement the instruction of: receive a status of the pre-decisioned digital data from the server.
 11. The wireless computing device of claim 10, wherein the status includes an exception status indicator indicating that the digital data is not archive worthy.
 12. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to implement the instruction of: receive configuration updates.
 13. The wireless computing device of claim 12, wherein the configuration updates are selected from the group consisting of: entry form updates; graphic user interface modifications; and decisioning rule updates.
 14. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to confirm the settlement path including routing of the financial transaction to a settlement endpoint by: analyzing the pre-decisioned digital data received to produce a result indicating if further decision processing is needed to determine the settlement path suitable for the pre-decisioned digital data; implementing at least one further processing step based on the result, the further processing step selected from, a) determining the settlement path for the pre-decisioned digital data if no further decision processing is needed by a second decisioning process, and b) applying the second decisioning process to the pre-decisioned digital data by using the one or more additional decisioning filters of the set of decisioning filters; and assign the settlement path to the pre-decisioned digital data for storage in a database.
 15. The wireless computing device of claim 1, wherein filters of the set of decisioning filters are selected from the group comprising: predefined fiscal rules; opt out where the original paper document is not eligible for electronic processing; block where the document or the wireless computing device is not accepted by a respective financial processing member of the distributed decisioning environment; stop where the document is not accepted by a respective financial processing member of the distributed decisioning environment; and submitted Automated Clearing House (ACH) eligible where the document is deemed eligible for subsequent financial processing by a member of the distributed decisioning environment.
 16. The wireless computing device of claim 2, wherein the server is configured to override the first decision result by a second decisioning process implemented by the one or more additional decisioning filters of the set of decisioning filters.
 17. The wireless computing device of claim 16, wherein the server is configured to change a settlement path of the first decision result to a different settlement path, the settlement path being the first decision result.
 18. The wireless computing device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to implement the instruction of: update the configuration of the local decisioning filter according to configuration data of the configuration update.
 19. The wireless computing device of claim 2, wherein the original paper document is selected from the group consisting of: a check and a coupon.
 20. The wireless computing device of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to implement the instruction of: show the digital image and wait for user input via a graphical user interface of the wireless computing device.
 21. A method implemented on a wireless computing device for capturing and pre-decision processing of digital data related to a document in a distributed decisioning environment having a set of decisioning filters, the digital data including at least a digital image of the document associated with a financial transaction, the mobile device configured for communication over a wireless communications network with a server of the distributed decisioning environment, the method implemented as a set of instructions for execution by a processor, the method comprising: accessing a local decisioning filter of the set of decisioning filters, the local decisioning filter including exception criteria stored in a storage, the storage coupled to the computer processor, the set of decisioning filters for determining a settlement path for the digital data; converting via a device the document to the digital image and associated data as the digital data; applying the local decisioning filter to the digital data to produce pre-decisioned digital data reflecting a first decision result of the pre-decision processing; and transmitting the pre-decisioned digital data over the wireless communications network for subsequent receipt by the server; wherein the server is configured to further decision the pre-decisioned digital data using one or more additional decisioning filters of the set of decisioning filters.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the exception criteria includes a minimum information exception defining whether the digital image contains a minimum amount of transactional information.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the processing of the digital data is performed on the wireless computing device without having to wait for information from the server during said processing.
 24. The method of claim 22 further comprising checking an amount of the original paper document against a maximum threshold value.
 25. The method of claim 21 further comprising checking an amount of the original paper document against a maximum threshold value.
 26. The method of claim 21 further comprising receiving a status of the pre-decisioned digital data from the server.
 27. The method of claim 21 further comprising receiving configuration updates.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein the server is configured to confirm the settlement path including routing of the financial transaction to a settlement endpoint by: analyzing the pre-decisioned digital data received to produce a result indicating if further decision processing is needed to determine the settlement path suitable for the pre-decisioned digital data; implementing at least one further processing step based on the result, the further processing step selected from, a) determining the settlement path for the pre-decisioned digital data if no further decision processing is needed by a second decisioning process, and b) applying the second decisioning process to the pre-decisioned digital data by using the one or more additional decisioning filters of the set of decisioning filters; and assign the settlement path to the pre-decisioned digital data for storage in a database.
 29. The method of claim 22, wherein the server is configured to override the first decision result by a second decisioning process implemented by the one or more additional decisioning filters of the set of decisioning filters.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the server is configured to change a settlement path of the first decision result to a different settlement path, the settlement path being the first decision result.
 31. The method of claim 22 updating the configuration of the local decisioning filter according to configuration data of the configuration update.
 32. The method of claim 22 showing the digital image and wait for user input via a graphical user interface of the wireless computing device. 